I receive many calls and emails from federal employees, annuitants, executors, attorneys, and banks asking for contact information and guidance for key benefit areas. There are many organizations and government offices that you MUST be able to contact to effectively manage your annuity, insurance, investments, and estate.

I compiled a list of key contacts, with links to comprehensive guidance for your use. Print this article and keep a copy with your annuity and estate files and visit our site for updates from time to time.

OPM – Retirees must contact OPM to initiate changes to their benefits, change allotments or direct deposit, report an annuitant’s death, or to obtain duplicate 1099-R tax forms and request other services.Web Address: http://www.opm.gov/retire, E-Mail: retire@opm.govtoll free 1-888-767-6738(weekdays between 7:30 AM to 7:45 PM EST), fax requests to 1-724-794-6633, oremail questions to retire@opm.gov . Call early in the day if possible to get through and you must have your retirement claim number or Social Security number available. OPM advises that “the internet is not a secure environment for transmitting personal information via email. Replies via email typically take 15 days or more.ON-Line Services: Federal retirees can sign up for online support, add or change allotments, purchase savings bonds, print out duplicate 1099-R statements, and view monthly pay statements at http://www.servicesonline.opm.gov. You must obtain a user ID from OPM to access this site. If you call their number and give them your CSA number they will send you a user ID and password to access this excellent site.Direct Deposit forms and instruction: visit http://federalretirement.net/retireforms.htm#SF-1199A_Instructions for downloadable forms, mailing address and procedures.

NOTE: Click on the program title for detailed information about each subject.

FEGLI (1-800-633-4542) Call for life insurance benefits information or to report a death.

Medicare(1-800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for assistance.

Federal Records Center: (314) 801-9250, FAX: 314-801-9269. The Federal Records Center is the depository for official personnel folders of persons no longer in the Federal service. Federal agencies, generally, transfer employment records to the Federal Records Center thirty days after the employee has been separated from Federal service. No requests for information from personnel or any other type of records will be accepted by telephone or e-mail. The mailing address and guidance is available online.

Survivors Guide: Print out the Survivor’s Guide and place a copy with your important papers.

FERS Redeposit Update – Forms Now Being Accepted

Effective immediately, your personnel office is accepting the current FERS Application to Make a Deposit, SF 3108, from employees wanting to make a FERS redeposit. The individual must indicate on the application that the period of service was refunded. OPM advised you not to submit a payment with the application. If a payment is sent to OPM before the deposit amount is calculated and the account established, they will have no way of identifying the payment and applying it correctly. The Service Credit System is in the process of being modified to include a FERS Redeposit module. Once testing is completed and the new version is ready for production, OPM will begin processing FERS redeposits.

Much Ado About Everything

Major new health care legislation was enacted last week that will impact and infringe on every aspect of our lives and our children’s lives. The estimated $1.3 trillion price tag, when including the Doctor fix, along with Social Security and Medicare insolvency may very well bankrupt this country in the not too distant future. The signed bill calls for over 140 new government agencies and commissions, 17,000 new IRS agents will be hired to enforce regulations and penalize companies and individuals that don’t purchase government mandated coverage, and the federal government took over the entire student loan program!

Our legislators, from both parties, have abandoned the principals of fiscal responsibility, restraint, and personal accountability. The outcome may lead to hyper inflation, increased unemployment, social unrest, and a major drain on all in America. Our standard of living is destined to decline dramatically as we digress down this path and I can’t imagine just how hard it is going to be to get an appointment with our doctors and the medical care we need when this all comes into play.

The U.S. National Debt Clock shows that each American citizen’s share of this debt is an astonishing $350,000; a family of four owes $1.4 million!!! Our politicians are out of touch with their constituents and they are selling out our Republic and the principals this country was founded on. Term limits are needed to insure this doesn’t continue and the only way we can make a difference is vote them out of office in November. This administration is openly supporting massive redistribution of wealth that will impact all retires that have investments of any kind. Taxes on capital gains, interest, and dividends are increasing dramatically next year and this will cut annuitants fixed income and effect all of us. It won’t stop there; AT&T reported $1 billion and Caterpillar Inc. reported $100 Million of new cost increases due to the implementation of this bill and these costs will be passed on to YOU the consumer. Nothing is ever FREE, someone and in this case everyone will pay. Companies have the options to cut benefits, lay off employees, or pass on the cost to consumers, either way it’s bad for the economy.

We must let our representatives know that this out-of-control spending must stop and we must return to our republic’s free market principals before it’s too late. Call your representatives to tell them how you feel about this and ask them, NO…. Tell them, to STOP THE INSANITY. We can’t afford this any longer. Contact your Congressman and Senators. This is no time to be complacent and the representatives that continue down this path MUST be voted out of office.

The information provided may not cover all aspect of unique or special circumstances, federal regulations, and financial information is subject to change. To ensure the accuracy of this information, contact your benefits coordinator and ask them to review your official personnel file and circumstances concerning this issue. Retirees can contact the OPM retirement center. Our artilces are not intended nor should they be considered investment advice. Our reply is time sensitive. Over time, various dynamic economic factors relied upon as a basis for this article may change.”

Hmmm, wonder what side you are on. Keep that hate and fear coming… We lived with that for eight years. Hey, you missed the death squad coming after granny. This article just ended my reading anything from this website.

“This Marxist philosophy, under the guise of Social Justice, kills personal initiative, encourages many to get by instead of ahead, and forces all to depend on government for just about everything in our lives. Anytime you focus that much power and control in one all powerful entity there will be abuses and tyranny (oppressive and unjust government).”

Do you honestly believe that it is fine for government to continue spending trillions of dollars they don’t have regardless of the cause? Do you truly believe that adding 30 million to the overburdened health care rolls and taking $500 billion from Medicare won’t cause oppressive rationing of care especially for the elderly who need it most? The system is set up to fail and will dramatically increase health insurance premiums as insurers struggle to cover the cost of unbridled care for all. This is especially true as Medicare reimbursements dramatically decrease as a result of taking $500 billion from that program and the fact that younger individuals who choose not to sign up and pay the smaller penalty, won’t be contributing to the pool. Then, when tragedy strikes and they sign up, all is forgiven and they get full care without any limitations. Yes, this will work out just fine!

What will you do when you have to wait months to get an appointment to see a specialist if you are lucky enough to find one taking a new patient, and then wait 6 hours in a crowded waiting room the day of the appointment? This is happening NOW under the current system! I had to wait 4 months to get an appointment 5 years ago to see an orthopedic specialist for an 11 am appointment that I didn’t get to see the doctor until 5 pm that day!

Just how efficient is this new health care system going to be with almost 150 new government agencies and commissions formed to run it? How effective is government in running the Social Security and Medicare systems that are bankrupt and the Postal Service that is asking Congress for a bailout? It is estimated that Medicare fraud alone exceeds $60 BILLION dollars. Why didn’t they fix these problems FIRST?

Too many simply ignore the problem and there will be a time when we all will have to pay the price if we don’t stand up for our rights NOW. I knew this article would be controversial and you have the right to believe whatever you choose and to read or not read my column. I too have, not only a right to speak out , but am obligated to do so whenever I see this country charging down the road to self destruction.

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